Rematch of season opener on tap Friday for Dollarway

By Jeremy Muck/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF

When Dollarway and Central Arkansas Christian meet on the football field, there is always something on the line.

Whether it be for the state championship or for bragging rights in the state as to who won the Hooten’s Classic, the Cardinals (9-4) and Mustangs (10-1-1) are certainly familiar with each other. And on Friday night, the two teams will meet once again, this time in the Class 4A semifinals at Mustang Mountain in North Little Rock for the right to play in the 4A state championship game.

Friday’s meeting will be the fourth in four seasons for both teams. In 2004, CAC defeated the Cardinals in the AAA state championship game. Last year, CAC came out on top in the Hooten’s Classic at Harding University in Searcy. On Aug. 27 at Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s Golden Lion Stadium, the Mustangs held off a Dollarway rally to take their second straight Hooten’s Classic victory over the Cardinals.

And if Friday’s semifinal matchup isn’t enough for Dollarway-CAC fans, the two schools will play in the season opener next year at Golden Lion Stadium.

Dollarway head coach George Shelton is 0-3 against CAC and head coach Tim Perry. But he and his team are excited about the opportunity to take on arguably their biggest non-conference rival one more time.

“Obviously, it’s going to help us and it’s going to help them as well,” Shelton said of preparing for CAC. “They’re not a foreign opponent. This is our fourth time playing them and it’s pretty ironic that it’s in the fourth round of the state playoffs. We’re excited about the opportunity. We’ve been working very hard and trying to prepare, just like we did in the season opener.

“Hopefully, we can be in the same position we were in the season opener in the fourth quarter with an opportunity to win the ballgame. If we’re in that position, then we feel like we’ve got half the battle done.”

The season opener in late August was a tight contest throughout with Dollarway taking a 14-7 lead into the fourth quarter. After CAC tied the game early in the fourth quarter, Dollarway’s Matthew Joy fumbled and the Mustangs recovered. CAC kicked a field goal which put them on top 17-14. The Cardinals were driving in the final three minutes, but Justin Harris was intercepted by CAC’s Joe Adams, who took it 70 yards to seal the game for the Mustangs.

Coming into the season, both Dollarway and CAC were expected to be state title contenders. But for the Cardinals and Mustangs to be playing each other in the playoffs? That was a tough call to make before the season, for obvious reasons, because of the way the brackets are made up.

“Nobody can really anticipate that, looking at this time of the year and accurately predicting that” Perry said of a posslble Dollarway-CAC playoff matchup before the season.”

Dollarway and CAC have had arguably the most impressive playoff resumes of any two teams playing each other in a semifinal matchup this season. The Cardinals, the 8-4A’s No. 3 seed, have won eight games in a row and have won three consecutive playoff games, including the last two on the road, at Farmington and Pocahontas. After trailing 10-0 at Pocahontas, Dollarway was able to come back and win 32-22 in northeast Arkansas thanks to four Mike Willingham touchdowns and three fourth quarter interceptions by Billy Lee.

Meanwhile, CAC knocked off the 8-4A’s No. 2 seed, Dumas, last Friday in stellar fashion. The Mustangs, the 7-4A champion, feature several key players as Adams, who has verbally committed to Southern California, is the team’s best playmaker along with quarterback Drew Stringfellow and wide receiver Ryan Farr.

Friday’s game is the first Dollarway-CAC contest to be played on either school’s home field. The first three Dollarway-CAC games were played in college stadiums (War Memorial Stadium, Harding’s First Security Stadium, and Golden Lion Stadium).

From the teams’ first meeting three years ago in the AAA state championship to now, Shelton realized the impact of the game at War Memorial Stadium for his program.

“After losing to them at that time, I realized that we absolutely needed to play a team of their caliber, a Spread-type of team early,” Shelton said. “We set a course of trying to get them on our non-conference (schedule). It worked out for us last year in terms of being able to schedule them. And then having them again at this time. We kind of knew from the outset, even from two years ago, that at some point, your paths would probably cross CAC. And on this Friday night, those paths will cross again.”